New York, New York, USA, 20 June 2006/PRNewswire/ -- Designed to provide exposure to 40 leading companies from the emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India, and China, Standard & Poor's today launched the S&P BRIC 40 Index. The constituents of the index are large, well-traded, liquid companies currently trading on the following developed market exchanges: Hong Kong Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange, Nasdaq, and NYSE.

"Securities in emerging markets are an increasingly popular option for investors, asset managers and plan sponsors; however, liquidity of the issues continues to be a cause of concern," says David Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor's. "The construction of the S&P BRIC 40 Index accounts for both the liquidity of the underlying stocks, as well as the liquidity of the overall portfolio resulting in an index which is more efficient to invest in."

The S&P BRIC 40 Index, which already has licensed products based upon it, is calculated by means of the divisor method used in most Standard & Poor's indices. It is rebalanced annually and treats corporate actions in a transparent procedure similar to other Standard & Poor's indices.

The index uses a modified market capitalization weighting scheme, with modifications being to market cap weights, if required, to reflect available float, reduce single stock concentration and enhance index basket liquidity. Constituent companies are also members of the S&P/IFCI index series that meet minimum market capitalization and liquidity requirements.

A paper outlining the structure and methodology of the S&P BRIC 40 Index can be found by accessing http://www.standardandpoors.com/indices. Daily returns denominated in U.S. dollars and Euros are available in leading market data platforms.

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